SLN conducts war exercise in Maathakal seas

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 August 2007, 13:38 GMT]Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) conducted a large scale war exercise in the seas between Kaarainkar and KKS along Maathakal seas between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. involving large number of ships and soldiers, sources in Jaffna said. Fishermen along the coastal waters and in mid sea were asked to return to shore before the war-exercise, affected fishemen said.

Devotees at the historic Ponnaalai Varatharaajapperumaal Temple premises participating in the annual temple festival were disturbed by the increased tension from the military exercise in the seas in close proximity, and many devotees returned home.

The Sri Lanka security had given permission for devotees to attend the festival at the temple located in the High Security Zone (HSZ) despite the impending exercises, civil society sources said.

Meanwhile, within the Jaffna Municipal council limits, SLA soldiers increased security checks and conducted several search operations. The seconday of the annual festival at the historic Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil was also impacted by the increased SLA security procedures close to the temple, civil society sources in Jaffna said.